56 Weeks Past the Cross – Springtime

It’s corny and it’s cliche’…things I try not to be, but there’s just something about springtime that moves me to the core! Signs of newness and of renewal are exploding in every direction I look. Colors so vivid, my eyes sing. Fragrance so sweet, it’s dizzying. Birds singing so much, one can almost make out the lyrics. It’s no coincidence, I’d think, that the Feasts we honor in obedience coincide with all this newness! I love the yearly cycle of deliverance and of accepting our God’s Torah. So much can change in a year, can’t it?

Sometimes, life’s concerns can start to weigh on us. Sometimes, we can find ourselves on “autopilot” which defines itself; self-piloting. Without discipline and persistence, we can find ourselves reading our Torah Portions with our physical eyes, instead of with the eyes of our soul. Then comes the Pass-Over! A time when we’re reminded that God delivers us from our deepest pits. We’d do well to remember that He did it to show His might, and not because He “so loved the world”. After a long year of changing seasons, I need the reminder that this is all about Him and none about me. I’m a character in history, which is His-Story. That’s humbling for me, how about you?

Observing the Week of Unleavened Bread further helps me rid myself of myself. “Eat the Bread of Affliction” Scriptures say. Do this and do that. Remember why you are doing it. Remember every year. I see so many posts with tasty recipes for Matzah. Doesn’t seem to me that the “Bread of Affliction” should be tasty, though. Mayhaps that falls into the “personal opinion” category, so I’ll just move right along…

We count omer on our way to Shavu’ot. This process reminds me how much a roll I play in my own covenant with my Creator. Christianity beat it in my head that there’s nothing I can do to “earn” my citizenship in the world to come. When using Scripture only, the Tanakh, it’s clear that doing nothing would be a fatal error. “DO” is woven through every passage!

When Shavu’ot arrives, we are given the opportunity to be reminded of the foundations of God’s Way and to accept it again. To reaffirm that we believe Torah is the outline of His Way, His Truth and The Life. Redemption and renewal, this is the God we serve. This is how He rolls. It is so much His character that even the seasons reflect it. Everything around us reflects it!

Oh, how I love spring and the Spring Feasts we honor! Are our calendars right? Probably not. Have we figured out everything we need to so that we can understand God? I hope not! If I had a god I could figure out, what would I need Him for? I can understand His theme, and that’s enough. Redemption and renewal. For balance and effectiveness, this includes every season; from the budding of delicate blossoms to the falling leaves to the dead of summer and winter, which seem so aptly named!

I hope spring and the Spring Feasts have been a time of deliverance and renewal for you. How fantastic it is wonderful to know that one day, we will gather for them! I’ll “see” you again soon, until then may peace from YHVH fall on you like spring rain.